


drink, lipstick, pull yourself together

by misspandalily



Series: the neji to my ten [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: 2017, F/M, Heist, NejiTen - Freeform, Seduction, Sexual Tension, Week 3, can I have this dance, femme fatale AU, i know nothing about heists actually, nejitenmonth, thieves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 15:38:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11558235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misspandalily/pseuds/misspandalily
Summary: "Oh, you just can't get enough of me." Even underneath the big hat, he's able to see her eyes glimmer with delight as he leads her through the dance. The attempt to fool him into thinking he's the alpha isn't tricking him. He knows just how well Tenten can dance - backwards and in stiletto heels. The bag on her side is his primary objective, although it does seem to be caught beneath their armpits."Hardly."- In which Tenten and Neji are art thieves with moral compasses -





	drink, lipstick, pull yourself together

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts used: can I have this dance?, seduction/sexual tension
> 
> Disclaimer! I don't own Naruto

She's the last person he expects to see on this mission. Even with her face hidden from view with an elegant bowler hat and her body clothed in a velvet black ensemble, he knows exactly who he's dealing with.

They're far away from the festivities of the Uchiha Gala, in a dimly-lit exhibition room they both know contains a rare painting worth billions. His father is languishing on a hospital bed, his life helplessly dependent on machines that're costing Neji an arm and a leg. He needs this painting for Hizashi to not die in pain, because in Neji's life of organised thievery and art heists, the only honourable part of himself is his devotion to the one parent who hasn't died on him yet. His father will be treated in a Private Hospital and by the Tsunade Senju herself, even if she's unbelievably expensive  _and_  hard to find. Hell will freeze over before he lets his father suffer just because his Uncle refuses to sign him off on a mission to steal the most priceless painting in the world, nay, Universe.

Although, considering who his unexpected rival is, stealing it from the gallery will be much harder than he anticipates.

Neji doesn't speak up, just quietly manoeuvres his way down the hall and begs for his shoes not to make a noise. His investment in noise-cancelling soles is well-spent; they're blissfully silent.

The revised plan is to take the painting from her as soon as she retrieves it from the wall - he's blocking the entrance, and there's only one way she'll be able to escape unless she's daring enough to jump down five storeys in  _that_  dress. With a dexterous, gloved hand, Tenten disables the alarms set on the frame and slices out the canvas with a Stanley knife. Neji watches her roll it up and slide it into a thin cylindrical tube before slotting it into her handbag. It's inconspicuous to anyone who doesn't know better.

He follows her as soon as she straightens her posture and resolutely struts away from the crime scene, taking little notice of the man slinking behind her in the shadows. Or so he thinks.

Seconds away from reaching the archway, Tenten tilts her head to the side, lifts her chin, and gives Neji a small, knowing smirk. In the moment that he realises he's been duped, Tenten removes a smoke bomb from her handbag and tosses it at the ground before him. He knows to avoid it and manages to escape the fog within seconds, but it's all she needs to make a run for it.

Frustrated, Neji races after her retreating figure, her form cutting a dark silhouette against the pale white light coming from the ball room. She makes a sharp turn right and disappears from his view.

By the time he rushes through the doors of the ball room, the only possible direction Tenten could have gone, he's cursing Sasuke Uchiha for making this a black-tie event. His vision is bombarded by people in black, some masked, some downing wine goblets like water. The only one who isn't joining in, though not by lack of trying, is Lee, who's in a deep forest green and entertaining some drunk men by performing handstands. Trust the one accomplice he has in this crime to be somersaulting on a marble floor, Neji thinks, and then catches sight of the one woman wearing a bowler hat. He charges forth and grabs her wrist before she can weave her way out of the dance-floor and into the lattice of white tables in front of the exit.

She struggles at first, trying in vain to escape - he almost regrets his actions when she winces in pain from the grasp of his fist, but the image of Hizashi dying from stomach cancer is enough to squash it down. Something in Tenten's face clears. She replaces her ire with a smile.

"May I have this dance?" He leaves no room for objection, choosing to lead her into the throng of waltzing dancers as she gives him the same musical laugh that draws him in almost  _every single time_  they meet on the job. The operational word being,  _almost._ Neji's not trying to flagrantly defy Hiashi on a mission this time, he's just straight up disobeying him and possibly buying himself a one-way ticket to a Witness Protection program as soon as he's able to pay off all the medical bills and funeral costs. The point is, Tenten's plump, red lips aren't seducing him as well as they did in the past because this time he has a clear purpose.

"Oh, you just can't get enough of me." Even underneath the big hat, he's able to see her eyes glimmer with delight as he leads her through the dance. The attempt to fool him into thinking he's the alpha isn't tricking him. He knows just how well Tenten can dance - backwards and in stiletto heels. The bag on her side is his primary objective, although it does seem to be caught beneath their armpits.

"Hardly." He pulls her in at the waist and presses her up against him. Her chest is tough, presumably due to the bullet-proof vests she ensures is always on her person, as well as the thick coat she's wearing. Neji respects her practicality. It's winter, and gun violence is becoming increasingly prevalent by the day. "You have something I want." Neji doesn't let go when the music changes. It elicits a few affronted huffs from surrounding dancers. Their steps quicken.

"I assure you, sweetheart," she leans back, allowing him to see the shit-eating grin on her face, "You're not getting it tonight."

"Very funny," he says bluntly, "but I meant-"

"I know exactly what you meant. And my answer?" He waits for her expectantly. "Not going to happen." The knee to his groin is expected, yet the subsequent elbow to his face is far from it. Neji is disarmed, but still beelines after her when she makes a run for the nearby wall and defies gravity on her way to the other side of the accumulated crowd. There's a commotion, and Neji isn't keen on replicating the parkour he'd just witnessed (neither can he replicate it, actually), so he pushes shocked businessmen aside and heads towards the exit.

Upon reaching it, his vision is impounded by a black leather handbag that slams against his face hard enough for him to fall to the ground. The cartilage of his nose appears to be disgruntled, but not broken. Neji's ears pick up on the sound of heels clicking away and scrunches his face before peeling himself off of the ground.

"Did you just get dumped?" Neji hears the raucous voice of Lee behind him and rolls his eyes. A muscly green arm pulls him up and helps him steady himself. "Again?"

"No," he pulls his phone from his pocket and pulls up a blinking, red dot that's edging away from his blue one on a map. Lee looks over his shoulder and lets out a low whistle. "Not yet."

.

.

.

"I thought I'd find you here," Tenten rests her cheek on her palm when she sees him striding into Ichiraku's calmly. "Although this time you're disappointingly slower than before."

She gestures to the two steaming cups of coffee sitting in front of her as he sits down. Tea is his preferred beverage, which she knows - it's like a punch to his face.

"I'm touched that you waited," Neji sets his phone on the table, their dots merging to become purple, and lets the information sink in for her. "Why do you do this?"

To his surprise, she gives him a knowing smile and holds her right hand out, palm skywards. "Just foreplay, sweetheart," she grins. There's a small black spot sitting in the centre. Neji doesn't allow his inner frustration to surface, even though he wants to slam his fist into a wall for somehow letting her one-up him again. They're two of the best agents in their respective companies, and yet he feels like he may as well be Naruto when she comes into the picture. The beginnings of his internal monologue are suddenly interrupted by the fact that Tenten looks...sincere. All pretences of cheek and sardonic humour gone, he feels like he's looking into a mirror of himself, and it's as gut-wrenchingly uncomfortable as Lee constantly claims.

"My boss is giving me an out. For life. I'm doing this as my official last assignment," she starts. He immediately squeezes his eyes shut and feels the vein in his forehead popping out slightly. Of course this is her last assignment. Of course he's hit by a wave of conscience for her on the one mission he doesn't need or want it. A week earlier and he would've been fine with the decision to not let her get away with the painting. A week earlier, they hadn't poured their hearts out to each other yet. When he opens his eyes again, she's staring at him expectantly.

"You're cleaning up."

"I'm starting afresh," Tenten slides a piece of paper over to him. He barely dips his chin down to read it.

"You're moving," he sees her new name printed in bold on the top of the sheet, followed by the signatures of several other individuals.

"I'm planning on moving," she corrects him again with a sad smile. "But I can't." Neji frowns. Tenten removes the tube from her bag and places it on the table before him. "I can't leave in peace knowing what I do about you and your father. Take it. I can stay with Danzo a little longer if necessary." He briefly contemplates seizing it and pawning it off for his fathers medical bills, then thinks back to the years he's spent watching Tenten robbing banks and performing art heists at ungodly hours to pay off her own crippling debt. There are plenty of other expensive paintings for him to steal and sell later on; though the urgency for this particular one bites into his conscience even harder. The bank seemed unwilling to loan him more money, too.

Neji takes the high road. He pushes the tube back to her side of the table and downs the cup of coffee as a way of punishing himself. Her face starts to blur at the edges. "You need to escape. Danzo has done enough."

A pained expression crosses her features. "I-"

"No," he cuts her off abruptly. Tenten's lips disappear into a thin line. "Go when you have the chance." He takes a deep breath when another bout of wooziness starts to overtake him. A hand reaches up to his forehead, though he isn't sure whose it is. He feels it gently moving along the tattoo that's lying beneath his bandages, hears her soothing tone above him and allows his eyes to shut tight.

"Gets you every time." The voice is sad. He blacks out.

.

.

.

**Certificate of Death**

_This is to acknowledge the death of_

Hizashi Hyuga

_On the_  3rd _day of_  July _in the year_ 2017

_At:_ Konoha Private Hospital

_Signed:_ Dr Tsunade Senju


End file.
